From NFL to NBA to MLB, this is how Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' could make your favorite sports team a loser
The version of the massive tax cut and spending package that passed the House last month included language that would've cut how much sports teams can deduct as expenses for "intangible assets," including player contracts and media rights.
It wouldn't apply to current team owners, but sports leagues such as the National Football League have warned that limiting the valuable tax deduction would cut teams' overall value when franchises are up for sale, forcing owners to pass costs on to fans to recoup their money.
A Trump-linked pollster named David Lee told GOP senators that 71 percent of voters agree with getting rid of the deduction, but the draft bill released by the Senate Finance Committee last night does not include the House language to kill it off, Axios reported Tuesday.
Numerous Trump allies who also own NFL teams are pushing the president to save the deduction, including New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Denver Broncos owner Rob Walton.
The president has a long and contentious relationship with professional sports leagues, including the NFL, which he turned into a political target during his first term in the White House after players such as former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick engaged in protest against police violence by kneeling during the national anthem before games.
Trump's attacks on the NFL were part of a long-running feud he has had with the league dating back to the 1980s, when he made numerous attempts to purchase one of the league's 32 teams.
In 1981, he attempted to buy the Baltimore Colts from then-owner Robert Irsay, and he did so once more two years later even though Irsay told him it would be 'a waste of time' for him to try, according to the late owner's testimony during a 1986 court case.
He also tried to purchase the Dallas Cowboys franchise around the same time but reportedly declined just before he purchased a New Jersey-based franchise in the league's short-lived spring rival, the United States Football League. That effort spectacularly failed when the league collapsed after just three seasons.
But Trump appears to have mended fences with the country's most popular sports league.
Last month, he hosted NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris in the Oval Office to announce that the nation's capital will host the 2027 NFL draft on the National Mall.
Trump appeared with Goodell, Harris and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser to reveal the location for the annual event, during which the league's 32 teams select from the nation's top collegiate players. The event has traveled to various cities in recent years and has become a huge moment on the league's calendar with thousands of fans attending the three-day celebration.
The president said the draft would be 'beautiful' when it takes place on the historic area between the Lincoln Memorial and U.S. Capitol.
'It's going to be something that nobody else will ever be able to duplicate,' he said.
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